Stolen Goods
by AvoCola
Summary: The government hosts a special Battle- this time, volunteers, prisoners, criminals and other political offenders are the only ones playing. However, a girl named Airi finds that her presence in the game is more complicated than that. OC
1. Chapter 1

**AN**: **Trigger warning**. Remember to take care of yourself first and moremost- if material such as **noncon, death, gore and more** upsets you, then please do not read this fic. The first chapter is pretty vanilla, but still. Now that's out of the way... Hello! I hope you enjoy the fic. Review and/or message if you like.

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Airi stared at the heavy interior paneling of the van, feeling slightly nauseous. She had floated in and out of consciousness for what seemed to be hours, getting a firmer grip on reality only a few minutes ago. Even so, that grip was lacking. She had very little idea of where she was, and even less idea why she might be there. The last thing she could remember was innocent enough- it was midnight then, she was lounging on her father's favorite chair in the living room reading a fantasy novel. While she had no way of knowing the time in the windowless vehicle, she thought from her intervals of consciousness that she must have been traveling for a long time. And by the heaviness of the van's impact on potholes or whatever other bumps in the road, it was possible that she was traveling very fast. In any case, she was far from home.

Ever analytical, she sifted through the potential reasons for her nausea. If there were some part of this dangerous and mysterious situation that she could figure out, Airi would put her best effort into it, however small the impact might be. She had definitely been knocked out with some sort of drug, which could certainly contribute. For a moment, her mind lingered on the possible long-term effects of such a serious tranquilizer. Airi pushed those thoughts away. _They drugged me, they didn't leave me to die. Whoever took me wants me alive, and seemingly healthy. _She recalled that she hadn't eaten much the day before- _or was it the day before, or had many days passed?- _and that it was possible that whatever drugs had caused her to vomit, as well. _I might even just be carsick, _Airi thought wryly.

No, despite whatever logic she might conjure in her groggy state, Airi knew it was her instincts causing her to feel the way she did. She always had very strong instincts, and she always stood by them. Even if it was something as simple or silly as crossing the street at night when she would hear an odd noise, she would follow that impulse._ Still, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to think something bad's gonna happen when you wake up handcuffed in... where am I going? Is this an armored vehicle?- but in any case, I feel like things are even worse than they appear. A car like this has got to be expensive. That could mean a few things- perhaps whoever took me has money, or they stole the car, or has someone with money backing them._

Her mind felt substantially clearer. Airi examined her surroundings thoroughly, fidgeting with the handcuffs as she did. She had never been blessed with good eyesight. However, she had surprisingly excellent night vision. Even if that meant that she could still only make out blurry outlines of things, at least she had strong contrast. Unfortunately, there was little to see. The van was practically empty apart from her and some grit in the corner.

_Clink. Clink._

_What is that noise coming from? _It was too isolated to be something of the movement of the van, too constant to be caused by whatever road it travelled. Airi lifted her hand up to her ear to hear it better, and was startled to hear it accompany the movement. Upon further investigation, she noted that her handcuffs were linked around a hand railing attached to the wall behind her. The railing was fixed by heavy screws. However, the plating around the screws had rusted, deteriorating enough around one of the screws that it had loosened enough to allow some slight movement of the railing.

_If I can unscrew that, I might be able to make a run for it when whoever this is opens the door. Airi _examined the exit of the van, looking for an ideal place to wait. Unfortunately, the doors were relatively small- her captor would fill much of the space with their body no matter what their size. Her eyes fell back on the metal rail. _If I get one side unscrewed, I'm free to move around. But if I get both sides unscrewed, I'll have a weapon. One that I desperately need._

She got to work immediately, prying at the screw with all of her might and dexterity. It was a tricky business due to how she was cuffed- it was difficult enough to twist her body around enough to see everything, let alone to actually reach the screws with her hands restrained as they were. Luckily, Airi's wrists were smaller than the handcuffs were intended to fit. Although there was no chance of them slipping off due to this, it allowed her to reach the last few millimeters to the screw. The cuffs still chafed horribly, the prolonged struggle causing bruises and then bleeding. The screws were even worse. The rust meant sharp edges -_When was my last tetanus shot?_- and the angle caused her nails to tear.

After about an hour of Airi's working at it, the screw popped off with a loud clatter on the floor. She immediately freed the cuffs from the railing. Though her hands were still bound together, Airi was able to swing them under her feet and around to the front. A fresh wave of nausea hit her as she realized the van was moving more slowly, taking more turns. Were they reaching their destination? _If I'm still trying to loosen the railing when they open the doors, I'll lose my chance to escape. _She considered giving up, but she knew in a burst of piercing certainty that she wouldn't have any chance at all without the rail.

The second screw was much more tight. Airi's hands shook even has her focus stilled completely. It was hardly giving at all, and her hands were battered from her first attempt. By all laws of the universe, it ought to take two times as long as the first. By Murphy's Law, it ought to take three. She wrenched at it nevertheless, hoping. _Maybe we're not close to stopping, maybe we're just passing through a town or some alleys, or maybe they're going in circles to confuse my sense of direction, or maybe- _her thoughts ran faster than she could keep track of- _am I even supposed to be conscious? What will they do if they meant for the drugs to last longer? What if-_

The van shuddered to a stop. Airi became conscious of how loud she was being, how everything echoed in the empty truck. A door clunked shut at the front of the van. Heavy footsteps, the weight of steel-toed boots on something like gravel, audible even through through the van's apparent layering. The footsteps came closer, following the curve of the van. They paused for a second. Airi heard gruff voices, the words muffled. Airi pulled away for a moment, taking a deep breath. The footsteps started up again, mere feet from the doors. Airi heard the lock begin to shake and with one burst of panicked energy she ripped the railing off the wall, simply breaking the rusted screw.

"What the-" the figure opening the door barely spoke before collapsing. Airi realized she had smashed the rail against his skull a few seconds after she had already bolted out of the car and jumped over his unconscious body. _Was that... a government soldier? But why?_ She wasn't about to spare time for the thought, not now. She was running fast, faster than she had ever run before, barely taking in surroundings enough to dodge and weave and-

_Oh, fuck._

An entire army platoon stood in front of her, every last one of them holding a gun. Airi skidded to a stop. Several of the soldiers turned to look at her, heads following heads until all of them pointed in her direction. She could hear someone running up behind her. Airi readied her rail unconsciously, as little effect as it would have. She wondered if it were the soldier from the van. Her suspicion was confirmed as the rail was wrenched from her grasp with unnecessary violence. The soldier came uncomfortably close, the smell of oil clinging to his shirt. Airi felt paralyzed under the glare of the army, hyper-aware of the blood running down the soldier's temple, and the syringe he held at her neck.

"Welcome to the Program, girl."

He injected, turning her world to darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Apologies for the long, unannounced hiatus. I have experienced challenges this past summer concerning health. I am working to ensure that this will not interfere as much with my fanfiction in the future. In any case, here is another chapter. Enjoy!**

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_This is becoming unfortunately familiar_, Airi thought, coming back to consciousness. She found a classroom before her eyes. Airi wanted to believe that she had simply fallen asleep in class, and that a teacher was going to embarrass her any moment now for her carelessness. She wanted to, but she couldn't even summon the false hope. For even as she was coming to she felt cold metal wrapping around her wrists and her neck. She lifted her hand half-heartedly, not even wanting to look.

_Clink. Yes, definitely handcuffs_. They hooked around the backing of the chair, effectively killing any ideas Airi had about repeating her earlier act.

There was something else, a definite warmth touching her back. A person? Airi twisted and found that she was sharing both the seat and the handcuffs with another girl. The girl had long dark waves of hair, as well as a faint stain of unnatural lipstick -_purple?-_ clinging to her lips. She too seemed to be taking stock of her surroundings. The two met eyes for a few moments, before each turning back to assess their situation.

The classroom was filled with people approximately Airi's own age, though she thought some of them might have been older. Everyone seemed to have been paired off, or rather, handcuffed off. Still, these pairings appeared completely random. Some students were still wearing their school clothes, while others wore casual dress. Those in the latter category seemed to be most alert, though there were exceptions both ways. Most notably, a boy in a black uniform had draped himself over his chair, while his his handcuff partner sat shivering on the tile. His hair was a wild mess, a gingerish mane. _Is he chewing gum? _As soon as Airi looked at his eyes, she realized he had been examining her the entire time. She held her ground for a few moments, then turned away, feeling unexplainably sick to her stomach.

She turned her attention to the rest of the room, scanning faces. _Good, I don't think I know anyone here... That's a good thing, right? _Some of the teens even wore what appeared to be prison uniforms, though Airi hoped that they might simply be janitors or some form of maintenance crew. _Although, wouldn't it be a bit weird for the Program to only take a few members of a maintenance-_

The thought cut off as soon as it had sunk in. _I'm in the Program, _Airi realized, her blood stilling in her veins. _I'm really in the Program._

The door to the room opened quietly as a young woman walked in. She didn't appear to be much older than anyone handcuffed, possibly in her early twenties. She certainly didn't dress as if she were, Airi noted, as the woman wore a neon orange t-shirt and camouflage shorts with a studded black belt. Airi's throat tightened as she realized that the shirt was emblazoned with the letters B and R- Battle Royale. The woman stopped at the front of the room, planting her hands on her waist with a sickeningly sincere smile.

"Hello, everyone! Don't you feel lucky?" She giggled, tossing her short hair. The room was silent, except for a single chuckle. Airi snuck a glance behind her, seeing a boy in military dress. Everything about him was smartened up to army standards, except for one foot in rebellion, tapping incessantly against the floor. His smirk grated on her nearly as much as the noise. _Just what is he so impatient for...? _"You can all call me Onee-chan. I'm sure that we'll be best of friends, eh?" Airi's attention flicked back to the woman, though slowed by her disgust and confusion.

"Well, you've all been told you're in the Program. One way or another, right?" She giggled again. Airi had a hysterical urge to giggle as well, just to think that something was actually that pleasant. "Just in case, I'm here to tell you the Right Way To Fight A Battle Royale!" Her voice bounced with the tell-tale tone of memorization. _Has she been brainwashed?_ "Congratulations! Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you! Fight, fight, fight until everyone's dead but you!" A few gasps echoed around the room. Airi knew that even though most people must know the basics of the Battle Royale, it was shocking to hear it out loud, for real.

"Listen well. I believe in you all! Anyone can win if his or her mind is put to it! No rules, but one important thing! There's a time limit on this game, which is three days. If we haven't got a winner after three days, all the necklaces you're wearing automatically explode! And no one wins. As long as we're here, lets fight hard to make sure that doesn't happen! And oh yes," she paused, smiling vibrantly to the unresponsive crowd, "About those necklaces. They're one hundred percent waterproof, shockproof and permenant! It monitors your pulse, and your you linger in a danger zone, or cause trouble... BOOM! It explodes! If you try to rip it off, it explodes too, so promise not to do that, eh?"

"There's a few things you gotta know! You are on a deserted island that looks like... this!" She slid the adjustable chalkboard, revealing a map drawn on the board behind it. "We evacuated everyone, so it's empty! The island is divided into many zones. Every six hours, I will broadcast updates about which zones are becoming danger zones. Aren't you excited? If you're in those zones, you should leave quickly, though. Because..." she drew a line over her neck with her finger. "You'll leave the room one by one, but first you get a kit! Inside is food and water, a map and compass, a flashlight and a weapon. So check it out later, ok? There's also personal hygiene for the girls- we wouldn't want to worry about something so silly now, eh?" _Oh, I'm sure there will be plenty of blood without, _Airi thought. The morbidity of her own thoughts scared her- she wondered vaguely if she were in shock.

Onee-san put her finger to her lips, and leaned in. "Now, I bet a lot of you are wondering why you're here." The class shot to attention. "This is a real special game, eh? You see, the government wanted to try something new. Now that the games become more popular, we have a lot of lovely volunteers!" She clapped once, her eyes finding particular faces around the room. Airi tried desperately to match the movement to whoever she was referring to, but failed. "Even so, we still have a lot of no-good people... Yes, I'm talking to you jailbirds! All of you who mock grown-ups by breaking the laws- and getting caught. Better play this game better, guys!"

A girl in the front raised her hand slowly, drawing all attention to her. Airi thought that in any other context, the same might have happened anyway- the girl was absolutely stunning. Tea-colored hair hung straight to her collarbones, framing her heart-shaped face gracefully. Even the way she held her hand up was elegant, her white-polished fingertips curling delicately towards her palm.

"Yes, Etsuko? I do hope I can call you all by your first names, by the way, because I'm simply not allowed to know your last names! Government business," Onee-chan said, standing taller.

"I'm sorry, but... I've never been to jail. And I didn't volunteer, I'm sure. Isn't there a misunderstanding?" Etsuko questioned softly, her voice surprisingly steady.

"Oh no, Etsuko, there's no mistake. You and eight other people in this little classroom feel exactly the same way. You know who you are!" Onee-chan waved dismissively. Airi felt her heart sink into her toes.

"But why then?" A boy said, standing up. He was rather tall, his change in stature causing his partner's arm to dragged up with him. The boy in question looked baleful at his counterpart's rash behavior, hesitantly standing up to relieve the pressure.

"Oh, but Kichiro! All of you eight have committed the worst crime of all. Or your parents have! Betrayal or rebellion against the government! You ought to be ashamed. You eight are prisoners of the country- in fact, you volunteered your right to live as soon as you did such bad things!"

Airi glanced around the room. Kichiro, Etsuko, a few other faces seemed just as paralyzed as she felt. But as she looked around, finding streaming tears, open mouths, even blank stares, she knew several things. One, that her parents had never once been dishonest with her. Two, that neither she nor they had caused any trouble for the country, as much as they might not agree with its policies. And three, that none of that mattered at all.

She was innocent- innocent in a room full of murderers, criminals and defectors. She was as good as dead.


End file.
